so i went to my girl friends house and turn on the weather channel which tells me that theres a big snow storm coming so i tell her i have to leave or ill be stuck there for a week and i go to start it and the engine tries to turn over then just one click. i try again and again just one loud click from under the car. so i try to jump it and nothing, i did try to jump my 7 with my girl friends dodge shadow so yea. anyway i had it towed to my friends dads garage, hes a mechanic and he tells me the engine seized. i had replaced the oil 3 days before this hapened and dumped in 6 quarts of 10w 30, he took off the starter and said that its seized what do you guys think? i haven't been able to go try and turn any pulleys becuase hes been away on christmas break. so give me your opinions guys.

 

Try to turn over by hand first.

 

but you don't think its seized?

 

WHat does this mechanic you went to know about 7's?
If he's a piston guy, don't trust him.

 

never trust the wiley wys of the piston

 

Take out the spark plugs, put it in neutral, and spin it over by hand. It wouldn't just go from being fine to being seized in one step, unless you heard some serious noise from under the hood. They don't "just seize" after you shut it off while it had been running OK.

 

Technically rotarys can seize just like that.....You should try to turn the pulleys by hand. IF you dont have a stock fan on the car then use a 19mm and turn it by the crank pulley bolt. IF it doesnt budge then you most likely have a seized engine. IF it does budge then your starter went poop.

 

There actually have been alot of cases of them just seizing for no reason at all like that. But hopefully it isnt that in your case. If it is then there is damage inside, but you could always try to do the ATF trick or something to get away the carbon if its the carbon that locked it up. Might be worth trying if you need the car to be running asap.

 

well i have a 71 roadrunner 383 which im stuck driving now and its nice riding a bullet but i miss my rx-7, and whats the ATF trick? Thanks

 

My car is standing proof that you are wrong.


as of right now I have it completely torn down, one apex seal was worn down to the limit, it was so short that it litteraly fell out and got jammed. I went to go start the engine one normal morning, crank crank click. just stopped turning.

 

Tell you what, give me the roadrunner, and I will rebuild your engine . . .

 

My car also spontaneously siezed without noticable warning or any explicitly indicative noises. Hence the turbo swap now underway.

 

Bad bad bad sign. could be carbon locked. How many miles does your car have and have you been redlining the car at least once a day? Redline a day keeps the engine builder away
if it's carbon locked try putting some Automatic transmission fluid, ATF or Marver Mystery, MMO for like 24 hours and try rocking the crank back and forth to break it loose.

 

 

worked for me

 

theres 112,000 miles on the engine and i redline it often.

 

Carbon lock can happen in a split second- it happened to me.
Same thing, went to start up the car, and just a click- thought it was the starter. Replaced it- no dice.
Anyways, the ONLY thing you can check is if you can turn the motor over by putting a socket on the end of the main pulley and turning.
****DON'T**** attempt turn it in the clockwise/normal rotation direction, further damage can occur, like deforming apex seal groves.

Some dealerships are rumoured to have reversed starters which they install to try and crack the engine backwards and revive it, but I know my ghetto one here doesn't.

Other than that, there's nothing else I can tell you untill you check it.

 

Have you tried turning it over by hand yet? could be something very simple. rule that stuff out first.